BBC in disarray as Mark Chapman ‘refuses to share Match of the Day job with female host’

The BBC’s planned revamp of Match of the Day by sharing duties between two presenters has hit a roadblock with Mark Chapman reportedly rejecting the idea.

The channel’s flagship football highlights programme will be undergoing a big change next year when Gary Lineker steps down.

Lineker first took over as Match of the Day’s main presenter in 1999, but he’ll be leaving the show at the end of the season.

The 63-year-old will continue working with the BBC next season for their coverage of the FA Cup before leaving after the 2026 World Cup.

But he’ll be watching on as Match of the Day moves in a different direction next year.

It’s been reported that the BBC wants to go with a rotating cast of presenters instead of a straightforward replacement.

Chapman has been tipped as the bookies’ favourite to take the gig given his long reign as host of Match of the Day 2.

The 51-year-old, who first began working with the BBC in 1996, looks set to be offered the role.

But The Sun claim that he’s not happy with the idea of sharing the role with someone else with Kelly Somers reportedly being lined up.

Somers presented the BBC’s coverage of the 2019 Women’s World Cup and became the sixth woman to host an edition of Match of the Day when she covered the 2020 Community Shield.

She’s been a regular on BBC ever since, working on Football Focus as well as covering Euro 2020 and the men’s 2022 World Cup.

But it’s being reported that Chapman wants the job for himself and has ‘flatly refused’ sharing the post.

A source told the newspaper: “As soon as Gary’s deal was done, Alex made it clear he wanted Mark and Kelly to replace him.

“It would effectively be a job share and they would rotate hosting duties between them.

“Mark has made it clear within the team at MOTD that this isn’t something he would want to do.

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“He doesn’t want a job share, he wants Gary’s role as his own, which is understandable.

“It’s a headache for the BBC because they thought they’d found an easy solution.

“It’s back to the drawing board and negotiations are ongoing.”